At the end of the XIX century, Rio de Janeiro's urbanization process has demanded a large quantity of manufactured artifacts to attend the new socialization habits. Fabrics from England and France were imported and marketed, due to the lack of proper technology to produce fine quality fabrics in the Brazilian industry. By analyzing the discourses used in commercials of this period, one can demonstrate that the origin of the textile artifacts was turned into an important element of social distinction, without any relation with its intrinsic value.